Aspects of solving inverse coefficient problems in medical ultrasound tomography
Authors
-
Alexander V. Goncharsky
-
Ivan I. Makan
-
Dmitry V. Melnik
-
Sergey Y. Romanov
-
Sergey Y. Seryozhnikov
Keywords:
mathematical modeling
ultrasonic 3D tomography
inverse problem
medical imaging
GPU cluster
Abstract
The article is devoted to the development of methods for ultrasonic tomographic imaging of soft tissues in medicine. The main distinction from modern medical devices lies in the use of not only reflected but also transmitted radiation. Mathematical modeling was employed to determine the key parameters of the tomograph. The inverse problem is treated as a coefficient inverse problem for the wave equation, where the unknowns are the speed of sound and attenuation as functions of three spatial coordinates. Efficient numerical methods optimized for the GPU platform have been developed to solve the inverse problem. For experimental verification of the developed technologies, a test bench for ultrasonic tomographic studies has been built, focused on diagnosing breast diseases. Control software for the test bench has been developed, and comprehensive testing of the bench has been carried out. The results of model-based reconstruction of 3D tomographic images are presented.
Section
Methods and algorithms of computational mathematics and their applications
References
- T. Hopp, M. Zapf, L. Fernandez-Lago, F. Feldbusch, et al., “First imaging results with the new generation of the KIT 3D ultrasound tomography device,” Proc. SPIE Medical Imaging 2023: Ultrasonic Imaging and Tomography, San Diego, California, USA, April 10, 2023(SPIE, vol. 12470, 2023).
doi 10.1117/12.2653349
- N. K. Martiartu, C. Boehm, and A. Fichtner, “3-D Wave-Equation-Based Finite-Frequency Tomography for Ultrasound Computed Tomography,” IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 67 (7), 1332–1343 (2020).
doi 10.1109/TUFFC.2020.2972327
- N. Duric, P. Littrup, S. Schmidt, et al., “Breast imaging with the SoftVue Imaging system: First results,” Proc. SPIE Medical Imaging 2013: Ultrasonic Imaging and Tomography, and Therapy, Florida, USA, March 29, 2013(SPIE, vol. 8675, 2013).
doi 10.1117/12.2002513
- J. Wiskin, D. T. Borup, S. A. Johnson, and M. Berggren, “Non-linear inverse scattering: High resolution quantitative breast tissue tomography,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131 (5), 3802–3813 (2012).
doi 10.1121/1.3699240
- O. D. Rumyantseva, A. S. Shurup and D. I. Zotov, “Reconstruction of the Sound Speed, Density, Absorption Coefficient, and Its Frequency Dependence in Multyfrequency Tomography Mode,” Acoustical Physics 71 (6), 928–941 (2025).
doi 10.1134/S1063771025601372
- A. V. Goncharsky, S. Y. Romanov and S. Y. Seryozhnikov, “Low-Frequency Ultrasonic Tomography: Mathematical Methods and Experimental Results,” Moscow University Physics Bulletin 74 (1), 43–51 (2019).
doi 10.3103/S0027134919010090
- A. Goncharsky and S. Seryozhnikov, “Supercomputer Simulations in Development of 3D Ultrasonic Tomography Devices,” in Communications in Computer and Information Science, V. Voevodin, S. Sobolev eds. (Springer, Cham, 2020), vol. 1331, pp. 353–364.
doi 10.1007/978-3-030-64616-5_31
- F. Natterer, “Possibilities and Limitations of Time Domain Wave Equation Imaging,” in Contemporary Mathematics(Am. Math. Soc. Press, Providence, 2011), vol. 559, pp. 151–162.
doi 10.1090/conm/559/11077
- L. Beilina, M. V. Klibanov, and M. Y. Kokurin, “Adaptivity with relaxation for ill-posed problems and global convergence for a coefficient inverse problem,” J. Math. Sci. 167 (3), 279–325 (2010).
doi 10.1007/s10958-010-9921-1
- A. V. Goncharsky, S. Y. Romanov, “Iterative methods for solving coefficient inverse problems of wave tomography in models with attenuation,” Inverse Problems 33 (2), 025003 (2017). doi 10.1088/1361-6420/33/2/025003.
- D. T. Borup, S. A. Johnson, W. W. Kim, and M. J. Berggren, “Nonperturbative diffraction tomography via Gauss–Newton iteration applied to the scattering integral equation,” Ultrasonic Imaging 14 (1), 69–85 (1992).
doi 10.1016/0161-7346(92)90073-5
- L. Métivier, R. Brossier, Q. Mérigot, E. Oudet, and J. Virieux, “An optimal transport approach for seismic tomography: application to 3D full waveform inversion,” Inverse Problems 32 (11), 115008 (2016).
doi 10.1088/0266-5611/32/11/115008
- O. S. Haddadin and E. S. Ebbini, “Imaging strongly scattering media using a multiple frequency distorted Born iterative method,” IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 45 (6), 1485–1496 (1998).
doi 10.1109/58.738288
- J. Virieux and S. Operto, “An overview of full-waveform inversion in exploration geophysics,” Goephysics 74 (6), WCC1–WCC26 (2009).
doi 10.1190/1.3238367
- C. Bunks, F. M. Saleck, S. Zaleski, and G. Chavent, “Multiscale seismic waveform inversion,” Geophysics 60 (5), 1457–1473 (1995).
doi 10.1190/1.1443880
- A. V. Goncharsky, S. Y. Romanov, and S. Y. Seryozhnikov, “On mathematical problems of two-coefficient inverse problems of ultrasonic tomography,” Inverse Problems 40 (4), 045026 (2024).
doi 10.1088/1361-6420/ad2aa9
- A. V. Goncharsky, S. Y. Romanov, and S. Y. Seryozhnikov, “Multistage Iterative Method to Tackle Inverse Problems of Wave Tomography,” Supercomput. Front. Innov. 9 (1), 87–107 (2022).
doi 10.14529/jsfi220106
- A. Goncharsky, S. Romanov, S. Seryozhnikov, “On the Problems of Convergence of Iterative Methods for Solving Two-Coefficient Inverse Problems of Ultrasound Tomography,” Proc. in Supercomputing, RuSCDays 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, V. Voevodin, A. Antonov, D. Nikitenko eds. (Springer, Cham, 2025), vol. 15406, pp. 111–125.
doi 10.1007/978-3-031-78459-0_9
- C. H. Chang, S. W. Huang, H. C. Yang, Y. H. Chou, and P. C. Li, “Reconstruction of ultrasonic sound velocity and attenuation coefficient using linear arrays: clinical assessment,” Ultrasound in medicine & biology 33 (11), 1681–1687 (2007).
doi 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2007.05.012
- Introduction to COMSOL Multiphysics.
https://cdn.comsol.com/doc/5.4/IntroductionToCOMSOLMultiphysics.pdf Cited July 27, 2026.
- N. V. Fedorova, “Investigation of grid convergence in hydroacoustic signal simulation problem in the COMSOL Multiphysics,” Chemical physics and mesoscopy. 27 (1), 55–61 (2025).
doi 10.62669/17270227.2025.1.6 [in Russian].
- Vl. V. Voevodin, A. S. Antonov, D. A. Nikitenko, P. A. Shvets, S. I. Sobolev, I. Y. Sidorov, K. S. Stefanov, Vad. V. Voevodin, S. A. Zhumatiy, “Supercomputer Lomonosov-2: Large Scale, Deep Monitoring and Fine Analytics for the User Community,” Supercomput. Front. Innov. 6 (2), 4–11 (2019).
doi 10.14529/jsfi190201